In a time when renewed engagement is desperately needed, it is difficult to have dialogue when a vast majority of whites cannot empathize with the experience of communities of color, or, in some cases, acknowledge that there is a problem at all.

The Bible as Literature was part of a senior humanities English course that began with the Greeks and critical thinking, continued with the Bible, and concluded with a survey of British literature and an in-depth study of Hamlet.

What I have to say next applies to both Jews and Muslims; I say it to both. You live inside a bigger world. Not everyone is your enemy. There are plenty of Midianites out there, outsiders to your particularity, who wish you well.

First the good news: After four months of preparation, I have officially started my year-long quest to more seriously understand what it means to follow Jesus, aka "My Jesus Project." And now the bad news: After today I still have 363 days left of this. Turns out Jesus stuff is hard.

'Gatekeepers of redemption' -- that is what I call them -- are the decision makers in capital punishment. Yet as I think about the death penalty movement and the shift that seems to be occurring within it, I am beginning to see an inkling of hope.

My view is that when people really want to make something work, it will work. Community policing is proactive outreach: It asks officers to visit neighborhoods and families who are especially in need of help, and to do anything they can do to assist these people.

The Greek view of the ethical life is an interesting contrast to that of the Bible's. A different tone and mood pervade these aphorisms than what one finds in the Old and New Testaments. More significantly, the motivation for leading an ethical life is worlds apart from that of biblical morality.

Common wisdom has it that much violence in the world is driven by religious passion. Though there is good reason for this claim, deeper reflection reveals a more complex picture of what religions have to say about relationships with the enemy.

Every once in a while someone asks for advice: "How do I learn more about the Bible?" In church we act like the Bible is important, but few among us feel confident we understand it -- or even that we know what's in it.

Americans enjoy football because football reflects the values of strength, courage, strategy, self-discipline, teamwork, and celebrity that American culture holds dear. It's also refreshing to watch someone else get crushed by a 260-pound linebacker after you've had a lousy week at work.

This mythological framework explained not only the events in his life, but also those of the universe. The creation of the world, the change in the seasons, and natural disasters were all explained by the myths. He need never search for an answer.

I am not Charlie Hebdo. I know that I am not Charlie. I do not think that I would ever intentionally make fun of a faith tradition or belief system, except maybe my own. But, dangit, I will defend their right to do so.

I find it interesting that the Quran mentioned critical veins of the head, rather than those of other organs that are just as important. Indeed, severing other large veins in the thigh, heart, or liver, for instance, would also cause death.

R. Simcha Bunim of Przysucha (1765-1827), one of the great Hasidic masters in Poland, explained it by breaking it into two parts. The letter shin is a prefix meaning "that", and "dai" means "enough". She dai would mean, "that [which] is sufficient."

About Scripture Commentary

Scripture Commentary is a repository for our many writers who offer expositions on religious texts including our regularly running columns "On Scripture" (from Christian and Jewish tradition) and "HuffJummah" (from the Muslim tradition) as well as many pieces on the Bhagavad Gita and other sacred texts.